Love at Golden Academy
by Ploefje
Summary: Dawn, Misty, May, Ash, Leaf, Gary, Drew and Paul are invited to attend an elite school. They become roommates and it may result into some romance. Ikari, Contest, Poke and Oldrival Shipping.
1. Prologue

**Dawn's POV**

"_I am so nervous. What if I'm not good enough for this school? What if the kids don't like me?" _I sighed and looked at my watch. My mom dropped me at the airport and was waving at me while I went behind the security check. I smiled at her and she left. I had already dropped of my luggage, so I had enough time to find my gate.

I looked at my watch again and then someone bumped into me. "Watch where you're going" someone said to me. I saw a guy with purple hair en almost black eyes looking mad at me. "I'm sorry" Dawn said, "but that works both ways". The guy muttered the word "troublesome" and walked away.

"_Talking about a bad attitude" _Dawn thought "_but luckily I never have to see him again". _But boy, was she mistaken about that.

**Paul's POV**

"_First my brother makes me go to this stupid school, and then I get bumped into by a stupid girl." _Paul thought grumpily. "_Maybe its better that I'm off to this school if it means that I won't have to deal with my brother being all preppy and happy with his new girlfriend. Girlfriends. Why would anyone want a girlfriend? They are noisy, loud and very annoying. Just like that stupid girl, but luckily he wouldn't have to see her again"._

Paul finally found his gate and made his way into the airplane. It would be a long journey since he went from Jubilife City in the Sinnoh region to Goldenrod City in the Johto region. He was accepted into a high school for kids with above average grades. It is an elite school where only a few students get accepted. At first Paul wasn't too happy about it, but when his older brother Reggie got a girlfriend and started acting all lovey-dovey, he changed his mind about this school.

Paul finally found his seat in the airplane and sat down. He got his headphones out of his black backpack and started listening to music. Then he saw the girl with the blue hair that bumped into him. "You gotta be kidding me" he thought, "I hope she doesn't sit next to me".

**Leaf's POV**

"_Today is the day that May and I are going to the Golden Academy. I am so terribly excited to go."_ May is the daughter of the Petalburg City gymleader Norman. And I, Leaf am her best friend. Norman and Caroline (May's mom) adopted me, because my parents died when I was a really young girl. May and I were already best friends when that happened, so we got even closer when I moved into the Maple's household. I can't remember a lot about my parents, so Norman and Caroline have become my parents. They are so proud of us that we got into this exclusive and elite school and that makes me happy. I like to make my parents proud, even if they aren't my real parents.

"May, Leaf? Are you all packed? We have to go to the airport!" Caroline shouted to her two girls. Even though Leaf was adopted, Caroline loved her as much as she loved May.

"Almost ready" I yelled back at my mom. I took my suitcase downstairs and saw that May wasn't downstairs yet. I ran back up and knocked on her door. "May? Can I come in please?" I heard some stumbling and a hard smack on the floor. I opened the door as quickly as I could and saw May. Her room was a complete and total mess and her suitcase was on the floor. "I'm sorry" May said "but I don't know what I should bring. And then my suitcase fell on the floor so I have to fold everything again."

I sighed and shouted to Caroline "mom, this is going to take a while. May doesn't know what she should pack"

Caroline ran upstairs and started helping May and Leaf with packing. She knew May was very chaotic and Leaf was very organised, but they had a plane to catch.

**Schools POV**

School would start the 15th of September. But every new student was supposed to be at the school in early August so they could get to know the school and the people. The principle of the school was Cynthia and the schools nurse was Bertha. Together with the teachers they were all former elite 4 members and champions. Retired from active Pokémon battling to teaching students about Pokémon and other subjects.

**Misty's POV**

"_I am so happy that I didn't have to travel as long as other people had to" _Misty was the youngest of four sisters and is supposed to take over the Cerulean Gym when she finishes her school. Her sisters are too busy with their appearances, clothes and make-up to care about the well being of the gym.

She was really excited to start this school and make new friends. She was bullied at the school before she went to this one. She really kept to herself because none of her classmates wanted to be very good in school. They called her a nerd, a teacher's pet and a goody two shoes. Normally there would be nothing wrong with that. But because of those names, nobody thought she was fun to be with. Therefore she had no friends, none at all. She was glad when she got the acceptance letter from the Golden Academy, because she could start over now.

She took her luggage out of the taxi and walked over to a big building. She went inside and asked someone behind the desk if she was in the right place. The acceptance letter said that she would be living with 9 other people and it also had a key to a room. The person said she was in the right building and after checking her name "Misty Waterflower" directed her to the fifth level of the building. Misty took the elevator and pushed the button to go to the fifth floor. When she got to the fifth floor, there was only one door so she used her key to open it but she was not the first one to arrive in the apartment.


	2. The School

**Ash's POV**

Gary and I were already in the apartment we were assigned to, when the door opened and a beautiful girl walked in. She had red hair in a side ponytail and her eyes were a beautiful sea green colour. Her outfit really complemented her eyes; she wore white shorts and a top in the colour of her eyes. She blushed when she saw us looking and said: "Hi, I'm Misty, I am supposed to be on the fifth floor". "Hi" I replied, "You have come to the right place! I am Ash and this is Gary. I guess we will be roommates next year". Gary frowned and said "Isn't it weird that they would room guys with a girl?" Misty blushed again and Ash was slightly irritated with Gary. "I thought you wouldn't be the one complaining" Ash said to Gary. It was commonly known that Gary would flirt with any hot girl. Gary rolled his eyes and took his luggage to his room. "He he, don't mind him" Ash tried to comfort Misty. She smiled at him and carried her suitcase into the apartment. "Do we have rooms assigned to us?" she asked him. "Yes" he replied. "Every room has something that will remind you of home, so you can find your room easily." Misty nodded and asked which room was his. "I don't know yet, we just arrived before you came in."

**May's POV**

"_Next time, I better start packing a week before we leave." _May thought. "_I am so chaotic. Luckily mom and Leaf started helping me pack, otherwise we wouldn't get it done as fast as we did". _May and Leaf were almost at the right building when May stopped walking. "Why are you stopping May?" Leaf asked. "I think I forgot to pack my underwear" was the answer.

"Luckily you have us to look after you, you would forget your butt if it wasn't stuck to you, therefore you didn't forget your underwear" Leaf replied. May sighed out of relief and they walked into a large building and to the service desk located at the backside of the building.

"Hello" May began "we are Leaf Green and May Maple, we have come to check into our room" she said. "Your rooms are on the fifth floor" the lady at the front office replied. "Thank you" Leaf said and they went to the fifth floor. When they opened the door, they saw four pairs of eyes watching them.

The guy with black messy hair introduced himself as Ash and his spiky brown haired friend was called Gary. A guy with green hair introduced himself as Drew and flicked his hair. There was only one girl. She had red hair and green eyes and told them her name was Misty.

**Drew's POV**

I arrived in our little apartment only to find three people already there. They were called Misty, Ash and Gary and in the middle of my introduction two girls walked in the door. Two brunettes. One was short and the other one was slightly taller. They introduced themselves as May, the shorter one, and Leaf, the taller one. I was really surprised when I saw Misty when I came in. Most schools wouldn't put boys and girls together in one apartment.

But hey, maybe it could be fun. I'd only been to schools without girls, so maybe interacting with them would be a nice change. The little brown haired girl looked me directly into the eyes. She had beautiful blue eyes and she looked at him with curiosity. Drew closed his eyes and flicked his hair. He was taking his luggage towards his room and noticed May and Leaf did the same. When they settled in they went back to the living room.

"So how many people are supposed to arrive?" Drew asked the rest of the people. He was surprised when Misty was the one that answered him. "The letter I got says that we will be here with ten people, since there are already six, we're waiting for four more". Then they heard a girl scream and someone opened the door. A girl and a guy came through it.

**Dawn's POV**

After a horrid plane-flight we were finally at the Golden Academy. Remember the guy who bumped into me? It wasn't enough to bump into me; I had to sit next to him on the plane. Those were the longest 24 hours of my life. He wouldn't talk at all and when he did, it was nowhere nice.

In the elevator on the way to our apartment I asked him why he couldn't be happier. He replied that he wouldn't want to look shallow and preppy like I did. This made me very angry; I told him I'd rather be preppy and happy than be an anti-social jerk that hasn't got any friends. He shrugged and opened the door to the apartment. I blushed when I noticed that six pairs of eyes where looking at us.

"_Oops"_ I thought, "_that wasn't the best introduction". _"Hi" Dawn said to the three guys and three girls. "I'm Dawn, and this jerk is Paul" she introduced herself and Paul.

**Normal POV**

When everyone was settled in a green haired guy and a purple haired girl entered the room. "Hello" they said. "We are Cilan and Iris, we are seniors on this school. We were put in this room to keep an eye on things. You can also come to us if you have any problems."

They found out that Cilan was aspiring to be a great cook and Iris wanted to be a dragon master.

"I think you are tired, so I'll make you dinner and you'll go to bed afterwards" Cilan said to the gang. They all thought it was a great idea. Iris went to help Cilan in the kitchen, because cooking for ten people was a bit too much for the little kitchen. Dawn was still mad at Paul for being a jerk, so she sat as far away from him as possible at the big table. Ash sat next to Misty, Drew sat next to May and the rest were filling up empty spaces at the table. When dinner was ready they found out that Cilan was an exceptional cook.

Two weeks had passed since everyone arrived at school. They all got to know each other a little better. The girls got on great and the guys had really found friends in each other.

**Gary's POV**

I really liked all my roommates, especially Leaf. She was a beautiful girl, but that wasn't why I was drawn to her. I had seen enough beautiful girls so why was this one special? I thought it was really funny to flirt with her, and see how she'd get mad at me. She was very cute when she was mad. Her eyes would spit fire and she looked like she was going to kill me.

I would blow her a kiss and she'd ignore me for the rest of the day. Dawn and Paul seemed to hate each other and Drew teased May all the time. The only ones who seemed to get along were Misty and Ash. They both liked to battle and eat. As Gary thought about the last two weeks they heard Ash's stomach growl. He grinned and asked: "who wants to go out to dinner with me?" Everyone got to his feet and they walked to a restaurant nearby.

Let me know what you guys think!


	3. Accepted

**Misty's POV**

I really felt accepted into the group. The girls were awesome and I started to like Ash. He was fun to be around and she really felt alive for once. As they were walking to the restaurant she told Ash thanks. "What for?" he asked surprised. "I was bullied at the school before I came here, I really feel accepted now". "No problem Misty, you are one of us and we wouldn't trade you for anybody else" he said, while looking at her with a smile. Misty slightly blushed and looked the other way.

"Thanks Ash, for saying that. It really means much to me." She told him and shot him a grateful glance. He opened the door of the restaurant and let her go in first. In secret he was flattered she thanked him. Normally he was nice to anyone, but this girl, she was special. She was very shy, but he knew that there was something about her.

Ash reminded Misty of someone she used to know. Her mother. Misty's mom was the only one she could ever talk to. Sadly her mom passed away after a long sickbed when Misty was 12. It was six years ago, but every time Misty thought of it she'd still get teary eyed. She never knew her dad; he died in a car crash just before she was born. So for six years it was just Misty and her sisters Daisy, Lily and Violet. She couldn't talk to her sisters and she didn't have any friends up to now.

"Misty, are you okay?" Ash asked. She swallowed back her tears and nodded.

After dinner they went home.

**Paul's POV**

I really didn't think I would make any friends on this school, because I wasn't looking for any. The guys in my dorm are okay but sometimes they can get annoying because they keep themselves busy with the girls. I still don't like girls. The one in my dorm aren't too bad. Except for Dawn that is. She keeps getting on my nerves, so I ignore her as much as possible.

She is just so preppy, happy and shallow. She didn't seem to care about anything else but having fun and looking good. She wasn't ugly, even without all that make-up on. I liked her better without make-up, because she then looked like a normal human being. But I didn't know, that my vision of her soon would change a bit.

A package came for her and in it was a guitar. Everyone was in awe, because it was beautiful. It had a beautiful painting on it, lilies and roses at dawn. Dawn entered the room and asked what everyone was looking at. Gary held up her package and said that a guitar had come for her.

**May's POV**

A beautiful guitar came for Dawn and we were all in awe. It was beautifully hand painted, apparently she knew some pretty good artists. Dawn entered the room and asked where we were looking at. Gary held up the package showing her guitar. Nobody could have anticipated what was happening next. Dawn got really mad and asked us who opened it.

"Nobody" Paul yelled back at her, "nobody opened your stupid package, you stupid girl". Dawn looked at him with tears in her eyes. She grabbed the guitar from Gary and ran to her room and shut the door with a loud bang. "Was that really necessary Paul?" I asked. "You shouldn't be yelling at anyone." He shrugged. Dawn and Pauls yelling startled everyone. They wondered why Dawn was so upset and Misty wanted to try and comfort her.

**Normal POV**

"Dawn sweetie? Are you okay?" Misty asked carefully when she opened the door. "Go away" Dawn muttered. "I'm not going away until you tell me what's wrong" Misty replied softly. Dawn sat up and looked at Misty, her whole face was wet because she had been crying. "Fine, I'll tell you. But you have to swear you won't tell anyone. " Misty nodded. "That guitar was my dad's. He was in a band and crashed when they were going to a gig. None of them survived, this guitar is the only thing I have left of him. I miss him so much." Misty approached Dawn and put her arms around Dawn.

"I am so sorry Dawn, you had to go through that. I understand now why you where upset when you saw the guitar." Dawn gave Misty a watery smile but still looked very sad. "I went through something like that" Misty told Dawn. "Really?" Dawn asked. "Yes" Misty replied, "I still miss her everyday, but with you guys I can handle it better". Dawn smiled and hugged Misty. "Thanks Misty, you are really a great friend". Misty smiled and went back to the living room.

Misty came back to the living room. We all looked at her. "She is going to be okay" Misty replied. She wasn't about to tell us what was wrong with Dawn. "She will tell you, when she's ready to talk about it" Misty told everybody who looked at her. Leaf thought it was very nice of Misty not to spill Dawn's secret to the rest of the gang. Leaf looked at Paul; he wasn't feeling a bit bad for yelling at Dawn. It wasn't unusual because he really didn't seem to care about anything. We heard Dawn's door open and she appeared with her guitar. "I'm going out" she said, "don't wait up for me". She stormed out of the door.

We saw Dawn run out the door. "Did you really have to yell at her like that? Do you really think she deserved that?" Gary asked Paul. "I don't know what she does and doesn't deserve. I think she is a shallow person and she annoys the hell out of me" Paul replied. Misty stood up; she had fire in her eyes nobody in the room had seen before. She looked like she was going to hit Paul, but she didn't. She just stood in front of him and replied in a very calm tone: "you don't even know what she's been through, so if you are judging her without knowing her, I'd think you shallow instead of her".

Ash was gaping at her. This was the first time he saw Misty do something like that. This wasn't the shy girl he was used to; this one was fired up if something happened that wasn't fair. Misty got her Pokémon balls and asked Ash if he wanted to have a Pokémon battle with her. Ash got to his feet immediately because this was his passion. He got his Poke balls out of his room.

"Lets go" Ash replied to Misty. She smiled at him and took his hand. Gary stared at the rest of the people. "I don't really understand what just happened," he said. Dawn crying, Misty telling Paul the truth. It was even scarier then if she would've yelled at him.

They ate in the apartment and watched some TV. It was getting late and Ash and Misty were already back. Misty was getting a bit concerned about Dawn, what if something happened to her. Gary, Ash and Drew where going to look for her outside. May and Leaf decided to go to bed because they couldn't do anything helpful. Paul and Misty stayed in the living room.


	4. Dawn's guitar

**Paul's POV**

So there I was. Left alone with the redhead who calmly told me the truth. She didn't talk to me. And I didn't want to admit it, but I actually deserved what she told me. So I tried to talk to her.

"Misty?" I asked, she looked at me and replied with "what is it?" "Do you really think I was very mean to Dawn?" She still looked at me with her green eyes and I could see that whatever she was going to say was very honest.

"Yes, I do think you where mean to her" she said. "I don't think she did anything to deserve this from you, since you don't know what she's been through". "Could you tell me?" I asked her. "No, that's not in my place to tell you".

"Thanks for being honest with me" Paul answered. "I never really knew people could be honest," he said. Misty smiled at him and gained his respect. "I would never lie to you Paul," she said. Paul believed Misty and decided to be a little nicer to Dawn when she returned.

**Dawn's POV**

Paul is such a jerk. He is judging me without even knowing me. Dawn took her fathers guitar to a nearby beach. She tuned her guitar and started playing and singing. She had closed her eyes and didn't notice that the darkness slowly took over the day.

_"But how do you expect me_

_To live alone with just me_

_Cause my world revolves around you_

_Its so hard for me to breathe"_

She didn't know that Gary, Drew and Ash where standing behind her. Gary waved Drew and Ash away and approached Dawn slowly.

"Dawn?" he asked softly. Dawn was startled and stood up very quickly.

"What do you want?" she asked him warily. He was a good friend of Paul and she hated his guts.

"I just wanted to talk to you, see if you are alright," he said timidly.

"I'm fine," she said and sat down again on the sand.

"You lost someone didn't you?" he asked her. She nodded and stared into the ocean.

"I lost my dad" she mumbled, "this guitar is the only thing I have left of him". Gary pulled her next to him and hugged her. She felt safe with his arms around her.

"Thanks Gary, for comforting me" she said. "No problem, it sucks when you lose someone you love" he replied. "Lets go home Dawn, Misty is worrying about you" he said. "She is?" Dawn asked, "that was never my intention. She is a real sweet girl". "She sure is" Gary said.

**Normal POV**

The door of the apartment opened and Gary and Dawn were walking through the door. Misty ran to Dawn and hugged her.

"I'm so glad you are okay" Misty told her.

"You are a good person Misty" Dawn told her. Drew, Ash, Gary and Misty finally made their way to bed. Dawn ignored Paul and went to her room. Paul knocked on her door and she didn't answer him, she didn't want to be insulted anymore. He opened the door and walked inside.

"If you knock and I don't answer, why do you still come in," she asked him.

"I was just being polite by knocking" Paul said, "I want to talk to you for a second". "Say what you have to say, I don't have anything to say to you" Dawn sat down on the bed and looked at him.

"Okay" he sat next to her,

"I'm sorry I was mean. I shouldn't have said those things. I had no right to. Misty pointed out to me that I couldn't judge you because I don't know you. " He looked deep into her eyes and noticed they were a dark blue colour.

"The guitar was my dad's" Dawn replied to Paul. "He died in a car crash and it's all I have left of him. Now I'm going to shower, so please show yourself out" she stood up and left the room to her en suite bathroom.

Paul was gobsmacked. He knew she left the room because she was close to tears again and didn't want to share that with him. He never knew such a happy go lucky person could have faced such a loss. As school would start early the next day, he left her room and went to bed. Not entirely sure how he would have to act around Dawn. There was more to her than meets the eye.

The next day finished in a flash. The teachers where as followed:

Caitlin - Drama

Flint – English

Karen – Maths

Agatha – History of Pokémon

Bruno – Pokémon moves

Aaron - Music

They had a pretty cool schedule. They had Thursday afternoon and Friday the whole day off.

Monday started of with English in the mornings and Drama in the afternoon. Tuesday morning was for the History of Pokémon and the afternoon was full of Maths. They had Pokémon moves and Music on Wednesday. Thursday morning was a mix between English and Drama.

They where paired up with someone else for the rest of the year. Not everyone was happy with the pairing. Dawn was paired with Paul, Misty with Ash, Leaf with Gary and Drew with May. Dawn tried to get out of her pairing but Flint wouldn't change it.

"I'm sorry miss Berlitz, but this pairing has been decided for every subject and we can't change it."

He gave them the assignment to look for written love stories and choose the best one. They would later re-enact one love story in drama. That Thursday afternoon, everyone had already left. Paul and Dawn where still in the classroom working on their assignment. They where almost done when the electricity went out.

"Shoot" Dawn muttered, "I was almost done".

Paul looked up and told her they had a bigger problem than that stupid love assignment. All the doors and windows in the school worked on electricity. So they couldn't leave classroom until the electricity went on again. Dawn ran to the door pushing it hoping it would budge. "I don't want to be locked in here," she yelled hoping someone would hear her.

"I don't think that will work" Paul said sarcastically "everyone already left".

"Do you have a better idea genius?" Dawn asked him. He tried to budge the door but was sent flying backward he bumped against Dawn and they both fell on the ground. Paul was lying on top of Dawn. She could feel his body pressed to hers.


	5. Secrets

**Normal POV**

"Get off of me, you are heavy," she mumbled to him. He blushed lightly and couldn't explain the feeling he got in his stomach. He liked having her soft body close to his. He got off of her quickly; he needed to get some space between them. He couldn't explain the feelings he was having all of a sudden.

"Since we're stuck with each other, maybe we can pick the best love story" Dawn suggested. If they were going to be there for a while, they'd better make good use of it.

"Sure" Paul agreed. It was still light enough outside, so they wouldn't need any electricity for that.

"Some of those love stories are really harsh" Paul said to Dawn.

"I know," she said. "Which one do you like best" she asked Paul.

"I like the story about Elizabeth and Darcy" he said.

"Me too" Dawn replied "but I still think its sad most of them don't end so good."

Paul smirked and said, "you know, life isn't all about flowers and sunshine you know". Dawn raised an eyebrow and looked Paul in his eyes "you are telling me? I have had my fair share thanks." Paul sighed and absentmindedly touched her cheek "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that"

Dawn blushed. What was this feeling when he touched her? Paul noticed something changed, because she blushed and her cheek felt warm. He felt an electric tension between them. Then the lamps went back on and the classroom door opened. Paul jumped up and told Dawn they had to get home. Dawn was confused; she had felt an electric tension between them, she was sure he felt it too. It seemed he was eager to get out of her way, she was a bit disappointed and didn't know where the feeling came from.

"Are you coming?" he asked a bit impatiently "the gang must be wondering where we are, and we don't want them to start a search party, do we?" Dawn nodded and got of the floor. They hurried back at the apartment

**Misty's POV**

Just after Dawn and Paul returned home they got word from the principle that there would be a parents day soon. This day was specifically planned to let parents see how their children had settled into the school. Misty was not looking forward to this day; she had no one to visit her. Her sisters were too busy with their own stuff and her parents died.

Ash noticed she got quiet when it was known that the parents would be visiting a week from now.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

"I'm fine," she told him. He knew she wasn't telling the truth, but he hoped she would tell him whenever she was ready.

The next couple of days it wouldn't get any better. Ash was keeping an eye out for Misty but was also very excited about the parent's day. He could introduce his mother to Misty and his friends and show her his school and dorm. The night before parent's day Misty had locked herself into her bedroom. She didn't want to hear the happy stories about everyone's parents. This was the first time since she had gone to this school that she had felt so alone. Dawn noticed Misty wasn't in the room to join the conversation. She walked towards Ash and asked him "is Misty in her room?" Ash nodded.

"Isn't she excited for parents day? I only have my mom left, but I am really looking forward to see her" Dawn asked him.

"I don't know, she never told me anything about her parents." Ash said.

"She told me that she went through something similar as me" Dawn said, "maybe one of her parents died as well, I'm going to ask her," she said bravely. Misty had helped Dawn; Dawn felt she had to help Misty as well. They had gotten really close the last two months they had been at school.

**Normal POV**

Dawn knocked on the door. No answer. Dawn walked into Misty's room, but she wasn't there. Dawn was a bit alarmed, where was Misty? She returned to the living room and looked concerned at Ash. He immediately got up when he saw her face "what's wrong?" he asked her.

"She, she isn't in her room. Where could she have gone?" she told Ash.

"I think there is a good possibility she went to the beach. She loves water Pokémon," he said.

"I'm going with you" Dawn replied. Ash nodded. None of the rest except Paul had noticed anything out of the ordinary.

Paul saw Ash and Dawn wanted to leave the apartment. He stood up and grabbed Dawn's wrist "where are you going? Its almost 10 o'clock," he asked. He saw in her eyes something was wrong and decided to go with her.

"I think something's wrong with Misty, she is not in her room and she has been quiet since she knew parents day was going to happen" she told him quickly.

"Well then, no time to waste. Lets go!" Paul said. He explained in short what they where going to do to the others. They would stay behind and call if Misty showed up.

Paul, Ash and Dawn ran to the beach. They saw a little figure sitting on the sand with a blue blanket around her shoulders.

"Misty" Dawn shouted and ran towards her best friend as fast as she could. Misty looked around and saw Paul, Dawn and Ash run towards her. "Hey guys," she tried to smile but failed miserably.

"Where were you, I was worried sick about you" Dawn asked her.

"I felt alone" Misty said, "and when I feel alone, I go to the beach, because I love the beach." Ash sat down next to Misty and put his arm around her shoulder. She was freezing. "Charizard, I choose you" he said, "Charizard, please give us a little warmth" Ash asked his Pokémon. Charizard used flamethrower on a couple of branches and a small bonfire appeared.

Dawn and Paul came closer to the bonfire, it was warm and it was a cold night outside. Dawn begged Misty to tell them what was wrong. Misty was a little hesitant at first, but when she saw concerned faces looking at her she finally gave in.

"Fine, I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone" she said. Paul, Dawn and Ash agreed to not tell anybody.

"I told you that I was bullied before I came to this school", Ash nodded "I had a really hard time talking to anybody. My sisters and I are totally different, and they never made an effort to listen to me. I don't know my dad. He died in a car crash right before I was born. But I still had my mom. I could talk to her about anything, she understood me.'' Misty swallowed; it was really hard for her to talk about her past.

Ash hugged her a little tighter. Tears filled Misty's eyes. "But then my mom got sick, really sick, and then she passed away when I was twelve. It happened six years ago, but I still miss her everyday. And I have felt so alone the past six years. My sisters travel a lot and that's all the family I've got. I don't have any friends. So I couldn't be excited when they announced there would be a parent's day. I don't have anybody to visit me. I felt so alone last week." Misty sighed and the tears where streaming on her face.

"You are not alone anymore" Dawn told her. "You are my best friend and I care for you if you were my real sister" she said being sincere. Paul told Misty that she was one of his best friends because she was honest to him. Ash blushed when he told her that she means a lot to him. Misty also blushed when Ash told her that.


	6. Parents Day

**Normal POV**

"I think this is our cue. We have to leave" Paul said and grabbed Dawn's arm and pulled her away from the fire. Dawn wasn't expecting this and asked him irritated why he pulled her so harsh from the fire.

"They needed to be alone without two nosy people around them," Paul said grumpily. "Woah, someone is a bit grumpy tonight," she mumbled. He grabbed both her wrists and pulled her against his chest.

"As if you wouldn't know why" he whispered softly. He brushed his lips against her ear and Dawn shivered. Paul mistook her shiver "you are cold, lets go back," he said coldly. They arrived back in the apartment and Paul went into his room. Dawn told the other guys Misty would be okay and that Ash was with her. She went into her room and felt a little confused. She liked it when he touched her, but he mistook it for cold.

She took a shower and brushed her hair. Her pyjama consisted of a tank top and short shorts. She thought about going to bed, but she knew she wouldn't get to sleep. She stepped out of her room and knocked on Paul's door. She didn't hear an answer and softly opened the door. Paul just walked out of his shower and wore nothing but a pair of shorts. He had a startled look on his face when he saw her in his room but not as startled as she was.

"I-, I'm sorry, I knocked but-" she turned around to go back out but Paul stopped her. He asked, "Do you want to talk to me?" She blushed and had trouble talking because he was so close to her. "I-, I just wanted you to know you mistook my shiver outside" she mumbled.

"And how should I have taken it?" he came closer to me and I could see a few drops of water gliding down his body. Dawn found it really hard to focus on what she was about to say.

"I think I a-actually like it when y-you touch me like t-that" she stuttered. "Y-you make me n-nervous" she said. He tilted her chin and looked into her eyes. She could look deep into his eyes; they looked like pools of infinity. His face came closer to hers and for a second she thought he was going to kiss her. But he then pushed her away again.

"You should get some sleep," he told her in a harsh tone. She opened her mouth to reply, but shut it again. Paul didn't look like he was in the mood to talk to her about anything. She went to her room and closed the door quietly. Instead of clearing things up with Paul, she was left more confused than ever. She thought he was going to kiss her, and that disturbed her more than anything. She was disappointed they didn't share a kiss that evening. She didn't want to feel this way because it was Paul for crying out loud. An arrogant and annoying jerk who couldn't care less about anyone.

**Misty's POV**

Ash was sitting very close to me and I liked it. I liked him. I told Dawn, Paul and Ash my story. They where very kind and very understanding, unlike any other people I have met. Ash seemed to want to tell me something and Paul dragged Dawn back to the apartment. Ash blushed and told me he never met a girl like me. I blushed as well when he said that, it could never be true. A guy like Ash would have met a lot of nice and cute girls. He saw I didn't believe it, so he kissed me to prove it.

As I was never kissed before, it was quite the sensation. I already had butterflies in my stomach but this made them flutter uncontrollably. I kissed him back and put my blanket around him as well. His body was so warm, it comforted me like I wanted to be comforted. "Ash?" I asked.

"Yes?" he replied.

"I like you, I have never met such a great guy like you." He blushed and kissed me again.

"I like you too Misty" he told me. I was so happy at this moment. We sat like this for what seemed to be hours, but Ash told me we couldn't stay here. It was way too cold to stay outside. He grabbed my hand and I happily went with him and we got back to the apartment in no time. We stood in front of my room and I looked at him. He gave me a kiss and a hug and wanted to go to his room. I said, "wait" and grabbed his arm and let it go.

"I-, I just wanted to know if you could stay with me tonight" I asked him while I looked at the ground. I really needed the comfort he could give me. Luckily he gave me his sweetest smile and nodded. He would go to his room, shower and then come to my room. I quickly showered, put on my pyjamas and jumped into bed. He knocked on the door and came in. He got into bed with me and put his arm around me so I would feel safe. My head was on his shoulder and we slowly drifted into a deep sleep.

**Normal POV**

Parent's day passed real quickly. May, Leaf and Drew had a great time together. Drew joined them because his parents where too busy. Gary had his grandfather, Dawn was happy to see her mother again and Misty joined Ash with his mother. Paul's brother Reggie came to visit him. Paul's father was a drug addict and left his family when Paul was about six years old. His mother died two years later of heartache, even though she and Paul's dad had problems, she still loved him. Paul learned quickly not to trust anybody except Reggie and himself. Paul felt abandoned by his parents; his brother earned his trust by taking care of him all these years.

It was hard for him to even have friends, sure he cared for them and they had fun together. But he wasn't sure that when he needed them they would be there for him. And because he didn't want to seem weak, he never let anybody get close enough to his feelings. Feelings are stupid and for weak people. Strong people are rational, they can think clearly about things that matter.

There was only one matter he could not figure out. He thought he was developing feelings for this blue-haired girl. He would never forget the hurt and confused feeling in her blue eyes when he pushed her away that evening. He didn't want to think of her as his girlfriend, hadn't he thought a couple months before that all girls where stupid? He hoped he had hurt Dawn enough so she would hate him. He grabbed his homework and met up with the rest of his roommates. English was the first class scheduled that day.

When they entered the room, Flint and Caitlin where waiting for the students to take their place. "Hey guys" Flint started, "you are probably wondering why Caitlin is here today". Some of the students nodded, others just looked surprised. "Well" Caitlin started to explain. "Flint and I had the genius idea to combine our two subjects. Last week you all had to find a good love story and we are going to perform it to the rest of the school." All students looked shocked at hearing this news. Some of them would be performing a love story in front of the entire school. Some of the guys where really disgusted, but the girls where really excited about performing a love story.

Gary was one of the guys excited about performing in a love story. He really hoped Leaf and himself would be playing the main parts. He really got to like her the past months. She was funny, organized and crazy. Gary was a self-assured guy and wasn't swept of his feet easily. But his knees became weak when Leaf looked at him with her piercing green eyes. He felt she could look right through him.


	7. The Play

Flint and Caitlin noticed that everybody started cackling about the performance they where about to deliver in a couple of months. Flint raised his hand to silence the classroom again.

"The only thing left to do, is choose a love story and choosing people for the main parts." Caitlin said. They eventually chose the love story between Elizabeth Bennet and William Darcy. Caitlin and Flint would choose people for the main characters on the story and everyone else could audition for a part.

Leaf asked if she could be part of the writing process, since she wanted to be a writer. Gary was gobsmacked; he wanted to be William Darcy and was hoping she could be Elizabeth Bennet. He quickly asked Caitlin and Flint if he could join Leaf in the process of writing and they agreed. Leaf was slightly suspicious; Gary had never given any clues he wanted to write.

Caitlin and Flint went on; "we believe Dawn and Drew will suit the roles of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy best," they told the class.

Paul was surprised; he never thought Drew was going to get the role of Mr Darcy. He wasn't a proud, private sort of person. At least not with his friends, he could be a little arrogant sometimes but that was as far the comparison went. He thought he was more suitable to play the role of Mr Darcy. He kept telling himself it had nothing to do with Dawn playing the part of Elizabeth Bennet.

Dawn was slightly surprised she was chosen to play the lead role in this play and she was even more surprised Drew was going to be Mr Darcy. Drew caught Dawn looking at him and he winked at her. Dawn blushed slightly and looked at something else. Paul saw Drew's wink and it made him mad. Drew couldn't wink at Dawn and why did she blush at his wink. He didn't understand it. He wasn't supposed to care about her but he did.

Leaf and Gary got closer over the weeks. Leaf noticed Gary was actually a very nice guy who wasn't a player at all. He was sweet and compassionate about his hobbies, which were football, history and Pokémon battles. Gary liked it they had to spend so much time together because he really got to know her. She was serious, funny and really loved to write about things. It could be about political issues, her personal life and love stories.

He was really happy he got this chance because he had this crush for three months now. The play was scheduled for Christmas Evening.

May wasn't too happy that Drew and Dawn were in the play together. She really liked Drew even though he teased her all time. He just wouldn't get her name right. She had heard every month except the right one. But there was something about him. Self-assured, flirty and he could be really sweet if he tried to. She watched Drew and Dawn practice their lines on the stage and felt a bit jealous. She wouldn't want to replace Dawn, but didn't like that Dawn and Drew had to kiss at the end of the play. Paul sat next to May and looked at the pair on stage with the same expression on his face as May.

Weeks passed on and the play was only three weeks away. Drew and Dawn hadn't practised their final kiss yet, but they would have to eventually. Drew was secretly crushing on May and Dawn loved Paul. So they didn't feel comfortable kissing each other. Paul was busy on stage; he was in charge of all the lighting. He saw Dawn and Drew skipping over the kissing part constantly. Finally he made a remark on how Drew and Dawn shouldn't keep the kiss to themselves and practice on stage. Drew and Dawn both blushed and Drew told Paul to shut up.

"Would you rather practice in private?" Paul sneered towards the two. May was also on stage painting the props. She heard what Paul said and looked at Drew's reaction. He was red but not because of blushing. Drew was angry with Paul. Dawn couldn't take Paul's sneering towards them anymore and ran off to the girl's bathroom. Drew tried to follow her but he tripped and fell of the ladder attached to the stage. He screamed in pain and May ran towards him.

"Are you okay? Drew talk to me, what hurts?" she asked worriedly.

"My ankle" he whispered while tears formed in his eyes.

"Paul, get an ambulance" she shouted towards Paul who didn't know what to do. He ran towards a telephone and called an ambulance.

"They are on their way," he told May.

"You are going to be fine" she told Drew and she kept repeating it to convince Drew and herself. Finally the medics came into the hall where the stage was. Drew was laid onto a stretcher and they brought him back to the ambulance. May decided to go with Drew to the hospital.

Next day Flint told the class Drew broke his ankle and wouldn't be able to play Mr Darcy. Flint would think about a replacement for the play. Dawn was shocked, how could that have happened? When class ended Dawn went to her locker to put her books away.

"You really do seem to care for Drew a lot," a familiar voice sneered behind her.

"Get lost Paul, I am not talking to you," she told him.

"Seems like you are, so no kisses on stage with your boyfriend," he said.

"Firstly, he is not my boyfriend and secondly that is none of your business," she replied.

"You seemed really sad when you found out he wouldn't be kissing you," he said while smiling wryly.

"I'd rather kiss him than you" she sneered back.

"Oh really" he asked, "You didn't seem so indifferent the other day." She looked at him coldly while closing her locker again.

"From the first moment I met you, your arrogance and conceit, your selfish disdain for the feelings of others made me realize you where the last guy I would ever kiss," she fumed.

He looked really angry to hear all those words and placed his hands on the lockers, which caused Dawn to be caught in between his hands.

"Bravo" Flint said, apparently he had been listening around the corner, "you would be perfect to play the role of Mr Darcy, congratulations!" Dawn looked confused at her teacher, "we weren't practising," she mumbled to Flint.

"Even better" he said, "I like feelings when they are real and raw."

So Dawn and Paul would be stuck with each other for the next three weeks. Paul couldn't refuse because everyone was going to get a grade for his part in this play and he felt a little guilty for breaking Drew's ankle. They never spoke a word to each other when returning to the apartment. Drew was sitting in a chair with his foot up. May was with him and smiled at Dawn and Paul when they entered. Cilan had made a food feast because he was practising his cooking skills. Dawn filled a plate and went to her room. Paul apologized to Drew for annoying him the day before. Drew accepted his apology and they all filled a plate with food and ate it in front of the TV because Drew couldn't sit at the table.

Paul sighed because his plan totally backfired. Dawn hated him and he had to be in this play together with her. He finished eating his dinner quickly and knocked on her door. "Who is it?" she asked. "Do you really need to ask?" he asked rhetorically. "Go away" she said. "We still need to practice our lines and I don't want to fail this subject because of you."


	8. Shower

"You can practice on your own because I already know all my lines" she said. Paul knew this wasn't getting him anywhere so he just opened her door.

"We need to practice our parts together," he told her whilst sitting on her bed.

"Get out of my room, I did not ask for you to get the part of Mr Darcy and I will never kiss you" Dawn shrieked. She tried to push him out of her room but he was stronger than her. He grabbed her wrists and sat her down on the bed.

"We need to learn the lines together" he told her, "can't we evoke some kind of truce until the play is over?" he asked her. She was far from happy about that, but she didn't want to look like a complete idiot on stage in front of a hundred people.

"Fine" she said, "but as soon as that play is over, I am never talking to you again".

After a few days of rehearsing the play together Paul couldn't help but notice the similarities he and Dawn had with the story. They both didn't like each other, at least they pretended to not like each other, but secretly they felt an electric tension between them whenever they were close. Almost everybody in the apartment knew something was going on between Paul and Dawn. "Its about time something happened between them", Misty said. She was dating Ash for a few weeks now and they were really happy together. Gary and Leaf confessed their love for each other as well. May was wheeling Drew around since he broke his ankle, but they were both too shy to confess their feelings.

May and Drew went to the convenience store to get some groceries for Cilan's cooking. Drew really wanted some fresh air and May wanted to escape the apartment because Paul and Dawn were practising everywhere. The tension between them was too much for the rest to handle. A bunch of guys approached them and asked her if she was the daughter of the famous gymleader Norman.

"Yes, I am" May replied with a happy smile.

"We love him, he is so good with his Pokémon" one of the men said.

"Thank you, I will convey your compliments when I talk to him again" she promised them. She waved goodbye and they went to the store.

"What are we supposed to buy again?" May asked Drew. Those guys asking about her father made her forget about the shopping list.

"Lettuce, beef, tomatoes, potatoes and bread," Drew told her. He was getting used to it when people asked May about her father. But these guys, however, seemed a little different from other people. Drew forgot about it as soon as they entered the store. When May and Drew where done shopping, they went back to the apartment. May helped Drew into his chair and put his foot on a little bench. After he was settled, she put the groceries away in the cupboards and made some tea. She handed Drew his cup of tea and their hands touched. May blushed and Drew looked away. Paul and Dawn interrupted the moment by entering the apartment. They still weren't the best friends, but they where trying to keep the truce in tact.

Dawn felt as though she and Paul had interrupted something between Drew and May. They were both blushing and tried to look as though they were watching the television. Dawn couldn't help it but she felt a bit guilty for ruining the moment for her friends. They were both very shy when it came to their feelings. Dawn felt they could use a nudge in the right direction. She wanted to discuss it with Paul when they were practising in her room.

"Paul?" she asked.

"You are supposed to call me Mr Darcy," he said.

"Fine," she exclaimed "Mr Darcy? I have a problem and I was hoping you could shed some light on the matter."

"Whatever is the matter miss Elizabeth?" he asked, while moving a bit closer to Dawn.

"I think May and Drew have developed feelings for one another and I was wondering if we could push them in the right direction. Without them knowing, of course!" she told Paul. Paul immediately dropped the attitude of Mr Darcy and became his annoying self again.

"If you really are correct in them liking each other, we shouldn't be meddling in business that are not our own" he said coldly.

"But just a nudge-" she tried.

"No," he told her "you must promise me that you will leave them alone. Besides we have a play to focus on, I don't want to fail this subject because you were too busy with other peoples love life's". Dawn was a bit grumpy after he told her not bother May and Drew. She just wanted to help them in the right direction. Was that so wrong?

Paul noticed she acted a bit coldly after that conversation. Why couldn't this girl understand it was not her business if they fell in love or not. Maybe if he approached the matter differently. He grabbed her wrists and pulled her against his chest.

"What if" he said, while brushing her hair softly with his fingers "they tried to get us together?" he asked Dawn.

"Wh- what do you mean?" she asked him while stuttering.

"Our roommates suspect something is going on between me and you. Even though we know that isn't the case, what if they still tried to get us together. How would you feel about that?" he asked her.

"Hmm" mumbled Dawn, "maybe you are right. I never thought this day would come," she sighed.

"What do you mean?" he asked quasi seriously.

"Well, you being right does not happen a lot, does it?" she teased him while giggling.

He was silent and suddenly grabbed Dawn and put her over his shoulder.

"Hey, where are you taking me" she screamed.

"I'm teaching you a lesson," he told her. He took her towards his bathroom and turned on the shower. When the water was a little warmer he put her under the shower with all her clothes on.

"Paul I'm going to kill you" she yelled at him and pulled him under the shower with her. Paul was not expecting this and looked a bit dazed. It was a little bit too cosy in the tiny space, with Dawn so close, to his liking. He pushed her aside and tried to escape the little shower cabin but the bathroom floor was very slippery. He slipped and fell on his bum. Dawn watched this spectacle and began to laugh at the face he was making.

"Stop laughing at me," he said slightly embarrassed.

"I'm trying" she chuckled. This didn't go the way Paul intended to. He was soaked and his butt hurt a bit from falling.

"Can you help me up instead of laughing at me," he told her. Dawn carefully walked towards Paul; she didn't want to fall on her butt.


	9. Blackmailed

She grabbed his hand and pulled him from the wet bathroom floor. Paul pulled Dawn against his chest; if he would fall again, she would be coming with him. This made Dawn slightly uncomfortable because of the wet clothes she could see and feel his body very clearly. The heat of his skin radiated through the wet clothes. Paul noticed her figure in the wet clothes; he already knew she had a nice figure but now he could really see all her curves. He shook his head; he knew he had been staring at her and saw she looked very uncomfortable.

He started to take his wet clothes off because he didn't want to catch a cold. He kept his boxers on because Dawn was still in the bathroom.

"You should take your clothes off," he told her. Dawn looked surprised and asked him why on earth she would take her clothes of with him standing next to her.

"You'll get sick if you keep them on, and I don't want you to walk through my room like this. I do not like cleaning mess other people make," he said.

"Fine, but you will have to turn around. Could you get me some dry clothes please?" she asked Paul.

"If you wish," he said grumpily and went to Dawn's room to get new clothes. He blushed because he opened a drawer, which contained panties.

"Oh shit," he exclaimed, "how do I know what to get?" He grabbed a handful of clothes from her closet and proceeded to go back to his room.

May saw Paul walking in the hallway in his boxers. She raised an eyebrow and asked him what he was doing in Dawn's room. He mumbled Dawn's clothes are wet and he had to get dry ones. May didn't understand fully but it didn't look like Paul was going to explain why Dawn's clothes were wet.

He knocked on the bathroom door and heard Dawn tell him to come in. She put all of her clothes to dry on the washing rack and was wearing nothing but a very large towel. Paul was still wearing nothing but his boxers. Dawn looked at him and found him very handsome. His shoulders where broad and was beautiful slightly tanned. His hair was still wet but he had a very amused look on his face. She took a step in his direction even though she didn't know why. She came a little closer and put her hand on his chest, she could feel his heart beating frantically. She touched his lips and looked him in the eyes. She was shocked when she looked into his eyes and saw the cold Paul had returned. He gave her the clothes he brought her and went into his room to put on his own clothes. Dawn put on her clothes and avoided him when she left his room.

She felt like a fool. She could not get through to him; at first he seemed like a normal being and when they became a bit physical he had this cold look on his face. She had to go outside and be out of his sight for a while. May saw her leaving and decided to follow her. Dawn and Paul had a weird relationship. At first they seemed very lovey dovey and the next they were fighting and ignoring each other. She finally found Dawn sitting on a bench in the park near to the school.

"Dawn are you okay?" she asked Dawn.

"No" Dawn answered.

"Is it about Paul?" May asked. Dawn looked at May's friendly face. Misty, Leaf, May and Dawn had become the best friends so she was sure she could share this information with May.

"It is" she replied with a sigh. She decided she would tell May everything, she needed someone else's perspective on the matter. She told May about the classroom incident when the electricity was gone, about the time he brushed her ear with his lips and when he pulled her against his chest. She explained fully about what happened with the shower that afternoon.

"You love him don't you?" May asked softly.

"I think I do, but it is so frustrating because he is like two different people; a friendly one and a very grumpy distant one. I don't want to get hurt because of him," Dawn replied.

"I understand," May said, "but he will come around eventually." Dawn sighed and asked May if she could be alone for a while. May nodded and went back to the apartment.

"So, you love Paul don't you?" a creepy voice told Dawn. Dawn jumped from the bench and looked around. A creepy guy came from behind a bush and Dawn recognized him as Conway; he was stalking her on school.

"Why are you listening to my conversations? It is none of your business and it is very rude," she said.

"I couldn't help myself," he said with a creepy smile.

"Well what do you want," she asked him.

"For you to be my girlfriend," he replied.

"Not gonna happen," she said coldly.

"Want me to spill your secret to Paul?" he smirked and evil laugh.

"N-no" she mumbled. She could handle anything except being hurt by Paul. He was the first guy she ever loved.

"Then you have to be my girlfriend and ignore him as much as possible," he demanded.

"I can't" she said, "We have to practise our lines together and are roommates."

"After the play ends, you are going to ignore him as much as possible." Dawn saw she had no way out of this. Maybe dating Conway wasn't so bad as she thought it would be. He stood close to her and kissed her. Dawn was startled by this and pulled away as quickly as possible. "What do you think you're doing?" she yelled at him.

"You are my girlfriend now, so you are supposed to kiss me" he threatened. He grabbed her wrists; pulled her close and kissed her again. It was wet and slimy and she really didn't like to kiss him. It was nothing compared to a kiss she would've shared with Paul. When he finally pulled away, tears were forming in Dawn's eyes. She couldn't handle this.

"I have to go back to the apartment before I'm missed" she told him. He insisted on taking her to the door and grabbed her hand. His grip was sweaty and very tight. When they finally arrived at the apartment; she opened the door and Conway started to kiss her again.

Her roommates looked in shock. They thought something romantically was happening between Paul and Dawn. "Bye honey" Conway waved her goodnight. Dawn saw all her roommates looking shocked at her, especially Paul. His shock was quickly replaced by anger. Dawn really wanted to go to her room and wished everyone goodnight.

She sat on her bed and felt sick to her stomach. How did she create this mess for herself? How could she get out of it? The play was only two days away and after that she couldn't talk to Paul anymore. She wanted to cry but then heard the door open and a very enraged Paul stood in her room. "Go away, I don't want to talk with you," she said.

"I'm going to talk to you, whether you like it or not" he yelled. "I never knew you could be such a slut. Flirting with me one moment and kissing that creep the next. Did you want to have it both ways; the creepy smart dude and me?" Dawn was shocked, how could he think that?

"I would never go out with a slut like you" he shouted and left the room again with a slam of the door.


	10. Hospital

The tension was very strained the next morning. Everyone knew something was going on between Dawn and Paul. Paul was still mad at Dawn and ignored her as much as possible. They were going to practise on their own until the play the next day. Dawn felt very alone and she had to talk to someone. May invited her to go shopping in the enormous shopping centre in Goldenrod city.

"What happened," May asked Dawn.

"Conway knows my secret about Paul and he threatened to tell him if I did not date him. He told me I had to ignore Paul and never talk to him when the play is over. After that Paul came into my room and told me I was a slut and he would never go out with a slut like me," Dawn was close to tears again.

"He is blackmailing you?" May asked shocked. Dawn nodded.

"You can't tell anybody May, I need to figure this out on my own."

May was hesitant to agree with this, but when she saw Dawn's face she nodded.

The next evening came sooner than everyone expected. Dawn had seen her mother and her mother was concerned for Dawn. She was pale and barely spoke two words in total. Her mother wrote it off as stage fright, but May knew what was bothering Dawn. But she couldn't help her because Dawn asked her not too.

Dawn had put on her costume of Elizabeth Bennet and Paul looked like a very handsome Mr Darcy. They played brilliantly but Dawn was dreading the last scene. They would have to kiss each other and she knew it wasn't going to be the romantic kiss she dreamed about weeks ago. When the moment she dreaded finally arrived, Paul looked at her like Mr Darcy would look at Elizabeth. Dawn knew it was acting and that really hurt her. They approached each other and finally their lips met. His kiss wasn't as soft as she had hoped, she knew why because his heart wasn't into it.

The audience started clapping and the curtain went down. He let go of her as soon as the curtain went down and tried to get as much space between them as possible. They went back to receive their applause and the curtain went down again.

It was over; I could never talk to him again. There were a lot of people standing around us and congratulating us. There were too many people around me, and it was too hot on stage. I grabbed my stomach; it had hurt the entire day. My head went woozy and my knees were weak. I felt someone grabbing me before I fell on the floor and that was the last thing I remember.

**Paul's POV**

I was mad at Dawn, how could she play me like that? First she was flirting with me and touching me and when I didn't give in she had a new beau the same day. I was dreading the play, but I had to talk to her afterwards. Maybe she had a good reason for kissing that creepy dude. She looked very pale but I couldn't let her know I was concerned. Girls are stupid and especially this one, I thought grumpily. A second voice told me I only hated Dawn because she had hurt me and I cared for her. I was dreading the moment I had to kiss her and not because I didn't want to. I really wanted to kiss her and it scared me because I didn't want to feel this way. We got closer and I kissed her lips. They were very soft and I immediately got angry with Conway and myself. Conway got to kiss these lips everyday and I was mad at myself for not asking her out.

The curtain came down and I could finally get away from her. I couldn't go on like this and even though I wasn't a talkative person; we had to talk about it. First we had to take another bow and the audience clapped really hard. When the curtain went down again people started surrounding us and congratulated us for our hard work. I smiled, I liked being on stage but what I really wanted was to talk to Dawn. I looked at her but she did not look good at all. She was very pale and she looked like she could collapse any minute. I pushed people aside and caught her before she could touch the floor. People were running around on stage and someone had already called an ambulance. I looked at Dawn's beautiful face but saw no emotion apart from pain. Her mother ran up to me and wanted to know what happened to her daughter. I saw the anxiety on her face and knew she was scared of losing Dawn.

The medics hurried on stage carrying a stretcher. They put her on the stretcher and carried her out of the school and into the ambulance. Her mother joined her in the ambulance. I was shocked, what just happened to Dawn?

"What happened?" May cried while running up to me.

"I- I really don't know May, she just collapsed and I caught her on time" I replied.

"If she dies I'll never forget you were this mean to her," she yelled at me.

"I was hurt, I didn't treat her like this because I liked it," I screamed back.

"You don't even know what happened to her, and why she was dating Conway," she cried.

"Because she loves him, why would you date anyone if you don't love him?" I asked out loud.

"Conway blackmailed her into dating him," she screamed back.

I was still, completely still.

"What?" I asked her after a long moment of silence.

"Dawn confessed to me that she loved you and was hurt because you didn't seem to care for her as she did for you. After I'd left he sprang out of the bushes and blackmailed her into dating him. If she didn't listen to him he would tell you her secret. She wouldn't risk being hurt by you again." May replied on a softer tone.

I was dumbstruck and couldn't answer May. Dawn loved me? And she dated this idiot because she was scared of my reaction on her loving me? I must really be a horrible person. Dawn did go all this way to avoid talking to me and now she was in the hospital. It wasn't far from school so we all went there. We saw Dawn's mom in the waiting room and we ran to her.

"How is she?" I asked immediately.

"I don't know, they are running a few tests at the moment" she replied while wiping a tear from her eye.

We waited for an hour in the waiting room when we heard the news.

"Your daughter is suffering from acute appendicitis and we will have to remove it immediately" the doctor told the waiting gang.

"Is she going to make it?" Dawn's mom asked him.

"It is a major surgery, but we believe she is strong enough to pull through it" the doctor said.

A sigh of relief went through the group.

The doctor returned three hours later with the news that Dawn's operation went as planned. Her mother went to visit her in the recovery room. Paul really wanted to see Dawn, to tell her he was wrong and he loved her back.


	11. Party

Paul and Dawn's mother talked a lot about Dawn together. Paul had told Johanna (Dawn's mom) everything that had happened between them. He really liked her and had wished his mom had been as strong as Dawn's mother. Johanna told him to forgive himself about his parents. It wasn't his fault they were out of his life. When Dawn was finally awake they went to see her together. Paul was excited but scared at the same time. What if she didn't accept his apology?

They went in the room and saw a very pale Dawn lying in bed. She had all sorts of tubes coming out of her and it looked really creepy. She was awake and looked at them when they entered the room. When she saw Paul her eyes turned from tired to alarmed.

"Oh Dawn" her mom exclaimed. "We were so concerned about you, but luckily you are okay," she put her arms around her daughters head and hugged it very tightly.

"I'm going to be okay mom," Dawn said while her voice croaked from not being used for a while.

"I know sweetie, but I really thought for a moment that I lost you," Johanna whispered to her daughter. She felt the tension between Paul and her daughter and decided to get a coffee.

"I am going to get some coffee," she told Dawn, "I will be back in 10 minutes." Dawn nodded and her mother left the room.

Paul sat down on a chair next to the bed. Both Dawn and Paul didn't speak for a while but Paul felt he needed to start the conversation.

"Dawn, I" he started to speak. He wanted to make eye contact but she avoided his gaze by staring at the tube coming out of her hand.

"I am really sorry about what happened," he told her really quickly. Finally their eyes met and he saw a shocked look in her eyes. "May told me what happened between you and Conway. I should've known something was up, you didn't seem happy about dating him. Can you forgive me for doubting you?" his voice sounded full of remorse.

"I, I don't know. I have no clue what happened exactly last week. Well, I do have a clue but I don't know how to place everything," Dawn replied.

Their conversation was interrupted when not Johanna but Conway entered the room.

"What are you doing here?" Paul asked him rudely.

"Visiting my girlfriend of course," he answered arrogantly.

"I see we have reached an impasse," Paul replied, "because Dawn is my girlfriend." Conway looked surprised and looked at Dawn.

"Wha-, you told him about your feelings?" he asked her. Paul answered this question "she did and we are very happy together now. So if you'll come near her again I will smash your head," he threatened. Conway looked warily at Dawn and made his way out of the room and the hospital.

"You didn't have to do that," Dawn told Paul.

"Oh I know, but I wanted to. Now you don't have to worry about that creep anymore and you can do whatever you want. For his sake, lets pretend we are boyfriend and girlfriend," he said.

"You don't mind?" she asked him in return.

"No, why would I mind? I'd rather have it this way than to see him lurking at you." Secretly he would die of envy if Dawn really started to like that creepy dude. But he couldn't tell her he loved her, not now anyway. He wasn't ready yet.

Dawn wanted to move a little in her bed but winced when it hurt.

"Are you okay?" Paul asked worriedly after seeing her wince.

"I'm okay, as okay as I could be anyway" she tried to reassure him.

"Are you in much pain?" he asked her.

"I am when I move. As long as I don't move I'm fine," she replied.

A few days went by and Dawn slowly got her health back. Paul visited her as often as he could and brought her all the homework so she could keep up with school. Dawn's mother had left because she had to get back to work. Finally the day arrived on which she was allowed to leave the hospital and go back to the dorms again. She could walk again, laugh again without having pain and eat everything she wanted. Cilan wanted to throw her a welcome home party with everyone there. He and Iris left to go grocery shopping because he wanted to make Dawn's favourite dishes.

Leaf, Gary and Misty wanted to make a welcome home banner for Dawn. They found an old blanket in the closet and some paint. Gary painted the words: welcome home on the banner. The girls painted all sorts of figures on the cotton like hearts, flowers and kisses. Paul, Drew and Ash were hanging up balloons on the ceiling. May was arranging flowers in vases and making sure everyone else did their job. Iris and Cilan had already arrived home and started cooking the most delicious things for the party.

Paul had told Dawn to call him whenever she was ready to leave the hospital and he would go and pick her up with a car he borrowed from a fellow student. His phone went off and the whole room was quiet. Nobody wanted to betray the surprise for Dawn when she would arrive home finally. Paul talked to Dawn on the phone and when the call finished he told his friends she was ready to come home. Not everything was ready yet, but Paul trusted everyone to finish his or her job as quickly as possible. He grabbed the car keys and drove in the direction of the hospital. He had an idea; he needed to buy her something. Something to tell her he was glad she was okay. Maybe a box of chocolate was a good idea. No, she did get enough of that from everybody else. And there were already enough flowers in the apartment so that wasn't happening. A stuffed animal would be very cliché, but he knew Dawn loved them and Paul wanted to make her happy.

He still didn't know why he cared so much about her. What was so special about this girl that turned his world upside down. He got so caught up in his thinking about Dawn he noticed he had already parked the car. Dawn was healthy again, but he didn't want to let her walk to the apartment. She had walked in the hospital but not outside and he didn't want to take the risk of tiring her too much. He walked inside the hospital and went into the gift shop. One bear caught his attention because one ear was hanging a little lopsided. It didn't look as perfect as the other bears. He bought it and quickly went to Dawn's room.

She was sitting on her bed and looked very impatient. It had been long enough since she saw all of her friends at the same time. It was very boring in the hospital because everyone is sick. Of course, a hospital is for sick people but the aura of the place did feel like everyone was going to die. Paul saw the light of excitement brighten her eyes when they met his. She was ready to go and all he had to do is wink at her. She jumped of the bed and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you for picking me up! I am so ready to get out of here. I want to sleep in my own bed tonight!" she exclaimed excitedly.


	12. Home

Paul smirked while Dawn rattled on and grabbed her bag of the bed. He gave her the gift bag with the bear inside. She looked shocked and for a second didn't know what to say.

"I-, is this for me?" she asked.

"No I wanted to give it to the grocery man around the corner," he replied sarcastically. She smiled and gave Paul another hug.

"Thank you, it is very sweet!" she said.

"Well, you deserved it. I was really mean to you before you were hospitalized," he told her.

"You were indeed very mean, but I guess I deserved it," she told him.

"You did not deserve it," he replied.

"Well, I made this mess, didn't I? I could've told you the truth, but I was afraid," she said.

"You didn't do this on purpose. So don't blame yourself for dating that creep," he told her.

Paul grabbed her hand and they left the hospital. When he was sure she was sitting comfortably; he started the car.

They were both very quiet during the car ride. Paul was thinking about the time before Dawn and noticed it wasn't a happier one. He was happy now, with her and all his other friends. He was still sarcastic, cynical and had a sense of dry humour. But he wasn't the jerk he once was.

Dawn was thinking about her and Paul. How would they proceed? He didn't talk about her feelings for him and neither did she. She never would admit her feelings to the jerky Paul. But this was so hard. She couldn't deny it anymore because every time she thought of him her heart would start racing. Every time he touched her, she blushed. They would have to talk about it eventually. When they arrived at the apartment he helped her out of the car.

"Thank you for keeping me company in the hospital and for bringing me home today," she thanked Paul.

"It was my pleasure, I really got to know you. You are not as annoying and perky as I thought you would be," he said while laying his arm around her shoulder.

"I don't know if I should take this as a compliment, but I am going to," she smiled.

"You should," he encouraged her and pushed the button for the elevator.

"How is Drew," she asked while waiting for the elevator.

"He is OK actually, just two more weeks and his cast will come off. He probably will have a hard time walking on his ankle again," Paul answered her question.

The doors opened and they stepped into the elevator. Paul pushed on the fifth button and the doors closed again. When they arrived Paul gave the key to Dawn to open the door.

"SURPRISE," everyone yelled. Dawn looked very surprised and shocked. It was clear Paul had kept his mouth shut because she hadn't suspect anything.

Dawn looked around the room and saw all of her roommates looking at her with smiles on their faces. They were happy she returned home again. She saw a lot of flowers in the room, colourful balloons on the ceiling and delicious smelling food on the table.

"Wow, this looks incredible," she mumbled while recovering from the surprise.

May, Misty and Leaf pulled Dawn in a girls group hug. They were so happy to be together again after what seemed a long time.

"I can't believe you organised all of this for me," Dawn said while looking at all of her friends.

"We wanted you to have a welcome home party," Leaf said happily.

Dawn smelled the delicious scents that came from the kitchen and looked at Cilan.

"What are you cooking Cilan?" she asked him.

"All your favourite foods, like quesadillas, cheesecake and pizza," he answered.

Dawn's eyes began to glisten with excitement when she heard all those foods were going to be on the dinner table.

"It will be ready in five minutes," Cilan smiled when he saw how excited Dawn was. Paul and Dawn decided to put her stuff in her room. Dawn pulled the bear from the gift bag and put it on her bed. She stroked the bear's lopsided ear absentminded. Paul sat next to her on the bed and asked if she was happy to be home again.

"I actually am, I really missed seeing everybody at the same time," Dawn said. Paul smiled at her and at the same time Cilan yelled dinner was ready.

"Come on, lets go eat," Paul said to Dawn. He didn't have to repeat it for a second time because Dawn was already on her feet when the word "eat" was mentioned.

They had a lovely evening full of lovely food and laughing about jokes. Dawn was really grateful for her friends and she really appreciated the work they had done.

She was really tired when they finally went to bed, tomorrow would be the first day on school again. She was dreading the fact she would see Conway again, she hoped Paul's threatening had helped enough to keep him away.

She woke up early the next morning and took a long hot shower. She picked out a really cute pink dress with an open back and curled her hair. She put on a bit of light make-up, just mascara and a bit of blue eyeliner. Dawn went to the kitchen to get some breakfast and saw May sitting in the kitchen eating bacon.

"Good morning," Dawn said to May.

"Good morning, couldn't sleep anymore?" May asked Dawn.

"No, but it was one of the best nights I have ever had," she replied.

May smiled at Dawn and offered her some of the leftover bacon. Dawn took some and filled a glass with orange-juice.

"So how are you and Paul? Did he apologize to you?" May asked Dawn.

"He apologized and visited everyday in the hospital. He brought me my homework so I could keep up with school. He also threatened Conway if he ever laid his hands on me again. We still didn't talk about our feelings for each other," Dawn said while sighing.

"Do you think you'll ever be together?" May asked curiously.

"I actually have no clue anymore, he is still very sweet. But he is trying to keep his distance. Maybe something happened between him and some other girl. Perhaps she hurt him and he doesn't want to get hurt again. I really don't know, all I can do is guess and not try to flirt with him anymore. Maybe I should look around and find someone who I can trust and love."

She didn't know Paul was up and around the kitchen corner. He listened to the conversation between Dawn and May. He wasn't too happy she wanted to look around and find somebody to love and trust. He really wanted to be that person but he wasn't ready to trust anybody besides his brother. Still, Paul had to show Dawn she meant something to him. Otherwise he would loose her and he couldn't deal with that thought.

His stomach was growling and decided to enter the kitchen. Both of the girls fell silent when he entered the room. He had interrupted the intimate conversation between them. But since he was the subject, he didn't care.


	13. Love?

When everyone had eaten breakfast they all went to school together. Misty and Ash were holding hands, Leaf and Gary were walking close to each other and May was wheeling Drew around. That left Paul and Dawn walking together. Paul was really quiet and that bugged Dawn a bit because she hoped he didn't hear the conversation this morning.

"Are you okay?" she asked Paul.

"I guess, still a bit tired. And you?" he replied.

"I'm fine," she told him.

"Are you concerned about Conway?" he asked Dawn.

"A bit," she admitted.

"Don't worry about him, I'm not going to let you out of my sight when we are at school," he said.

"It's not school I'm worried about," she mumbled.

"Do you think he is going to try something when you are alone?" he asked her.

"I'm not really sure, but that's how it went last time. He came from behind the bush," she told Paul.

Paul was really protective of Dawn the next few days. Only inside the apartment he left her alone to do his own things. He was really scared of Conway trying to get to Dawn somehow. On one afternoon however, Paul got a call from his brother Reggie. Dawn had to go to the library to bring some books back. She encouraged Paul to talk to his brother because she got the feeling it was a very important phone call. Iris said she had to go to a shop close to the library and told Dawn she would go with her. Paul was comforted by this and went to take the call in his room.

Iris and Dawn walked towards the library and Iris asked Dawn if she could go to the store next door. If anything was wrong she had to call Iris and Iris would be in the library right away. Dawn walked to the library and returned the books she borrowed.

"Returning some books, are we?" a creepy voice asked.

"That's what you do in a library," Dawn replied while turning around.

"Where is your boyfriend?" Conway asked while looking like he was a bit scared.

"Around the corner," she said more bravely then she felt.

"Oh really? I didn't see him come in," Conway replied with a creepy smirk.

"Fine, he is next door. Buying some supplies," she told him.

"I only saw your roommate Iris go into that store," he said while grinning widely.

"Have you been stalking me?" Dawn asked getting a bit scared now.

"Of course I have. Did you really think I would give up after being threatened by that dude? I have waited for a moment when you would be alone again," he smirked and looked very proud about that.

"What do you want?" Dawn asked.

"You of course," he said while smirking.

"What do you want from me?" she asked.

"I want you to be mine, and mine alone. So I guess I'll have to get rid of your boyfriend first," he threatened.

"You are not gonna do that," she replied with a self-assured face. She did not feel self-assured, but he was not gonna touch Paul. She would never allow that.

"I won't, but I know someone who will," he replied.

Dawn didn't know what to respond, but knew she had to get away from him. She took a few steps back and then she ran away from him as fast as she could and to the apartment.

She was out of breath when she arrived through the door. May first asked Dawn where Iris was, but when she saw the terrified look in Dawn's eyes she asked what was wrong.

"Can't talk," she said while gasping for air, "need to find Paul. Where is he?"

"He is still in his room," May replied quickly.

Dawn ran to Paul's room as fast as she could and didn't bother to knock on the door.

"Don't you knock anymore?" Paul asked in an annoyed tone.

"I'm sorry Paul," she panted, "I needed to know if you were okay."

Paul looked alarmed by this and looked her straight in the eye. She saw he had been crying and she was immediately concerned about his well-being.

"What happened?" she asked him while walking up to him.

"My brother called, he told me some disturbing news," Paul replied.

"Paul, please tell me, I really need to know," Dawn said.

"Reggie told me my dad has been in touch. He wants to repair the family bond between him and us," Paul said.

Dawn looked shocked at hearing this news, she didn't know the particulars about Paul's family but she imagined it to be a shock for him. She then threw her arms around his neck and started to kiss his face.

Paul grabbed her shoulders and pushed her aside, startled by her actions.

"What are you doing?" he asked her warily.

"I am kissing your face. I am so happy you are okay, at least as okay as can be expected after hearing news like this," she answered.

"What happened to you?" he asked while looking at Dawn.

Dawn's dress was ripped, dirty and had a few bloody scratches on her cheek, her hair was really messy and she looked like she had been running very hard.

"Iris and I were going to the library, but she wanted to go to the store next-door. So I went alone to the library. But Conway was there and he threatened to kill you to get to me. I know you don't love me, but I love you and I don't want to see you get hurt because of me. So I ran through bushes to get here fast," she told him very quickly.

Paul looked as if someone had slapped him in his face.

"What did you say?" he asked dumbstruck.

"Which part didn't you get," she asked impatiently.

"The part in which you tell me you love me, how is this possible?" he asked himself.

This girl, this beautiful girl; ran through bushes and mud to get home fast for him even though she went through surgery not long ago. It all clicked at that moment. He could trust her and he loved her.

He pulled her close and softly touched her cheek with the scratches on it. It felt really hot, but he wasn't sure if it was because of the running, scratching or because he was touching her. He let his other hand wander to the small of her back and was surprised he could touch her skin. His eyes met hers and he could look deep into her beautiful eyes which still contained a hint of mildly startled.

His face came closer and finally his lips met hers. They were still really soft like the last time they kissed. The only difference was that was a stage kiss and this was a real one. She was a really good kisser and he wanted to kiss like this for the remaining part of the evening. He was surprised when Dawn was the one to break the kiss.

"I don't understand," Dawn said and she looked really confused.

"What don't you get," Paul asked.

"Why did you kiss me?" she asked him.

"I love you as much as you love me, and finally I am able to tell you I love you," he replied.


	14. Shock

Dawn looked like she had gone into shock. Paul sat her down on my bed and got her a glass of water. She took a sip and seemed a bit better after it. She looked at him and said he had to explain because she didn't understand it anymore.

Paul sat next to her and took a deep breath and started talking.

"My father left when I was 9, he was a drug addict and didn't want to take care of two children. My mom tried to handle herself, but she really missed him and raising two children on your own can be a tough business. She died two years later of heartache. Even though they had their problems, she still loved him. My brother was 16 and he had to get a job to take care of the both of us. My brother called this afternoon to tell me my dad had contacted him via letter, apologizing and asking if we could get together sometime to talk. My brother says he has bettered his life, but I don't believe it. All my life I have had a hard time believing and trusting people," Paul told Dawn.

She gave Paul a kiss on his cheek and he continued to tell his story.

"I was glad I got accepted into this school. I could get a diploma and get recommendations everywhere. I would get a great job and could help Reggie pay for things. Then I met you, a happy girl without any problems it seemed. I envied you and wanted to be like that. But soon you told me your dad had died. I felt guilty for prejudicing you like that; you didn't deserve that. I liked our little arguments and thought it was funny to tease you with Drew. I did not anticipate for him to break his ankle like that. That was never my intention. When I saw Conway kiss you I was mad at myself and so jealous of him. I did not know he blackmailed you, so I called you a slut. I was hurt. I thought you wanted to kiss me instead of him. I treated you badly and when you fainted on stage, I thought I was going to loose you. When May told me you dated Conway because of your feelings of me, I was angry again. I couldn't get anything right."

Dawn grabbed his hand and squeezed it. Paul smiled faintly at her and continued to talk. "When you woke up in the hospital I was happy and scared at the same time. Happy because you were going to be okay and I was scared because I did not know if you would forgive me. You did and for some time we were good friends. But then I heard you talking to May the other day. You wanted to look around, because you thought I didn't love you. I was sad again, but you seemed scared about Conway. I tried to comfort you and protect you as much as I could. You seemed happier and I was happy to spend so much time with you. I find it difficult to really trust people. But when you stormed through that door just now to tell me Conway had threatened me and to make sure I was okay even though you just had a major surgery, I felt I could trust you."

Dawn looked overwhelmed by Paul's story.

"I never knew you had such a story. If I had known I would've understand your character better," Dawn said.

"I know, but I am not a person who talks a lot about feelings and emotions. Especially not when I don't know if I can trust them," Paul replied softly while touching her cheek.

"I understand," Dawn replied and kissed him on his lips. He kissed her back and his hands wove through her long beautiful silky hair. His hands stumbled on little branches of the bushes she had ran through to get home. "Oops," Dawn giggled, "I think I might need a good shower and some clean clothes." He chuckled at her and they leaned in to kiss each other once more.

They were interrupted by a knock on the door. "Come in," Paul told whoever knocked on the door. A confused May entered the room. "I'm sorry to interrupt you," she said, "but I am a bit curious as to what happened to Dawn."

Dawn face-palmed herself and apologized to May. "I am so sorry May, I totally forgot."

Dawn quickly told May the story about what happened at the library and May looked shocked when she heard all of it.

"So, what are you going to do about Conway," May asked Paul and Dawn.

Paul and Dawn looked at each other and it was Paul who answered.

"We haven't made a plan about it yet," he confessed.

"You could always turn him in for stalking and threatening you," May suggested.

"We could do that," Paul said, "but I think Conway would just lay low for a while. And as soon as he feels safe we'll be threatened again."

Dawn agreed; she knew Conway would be capable of that.

Then she remembered something about the conversation with Conway at the library.

"Conway told me someone else wanted to kill you Paul," Dawn said to Paul.

"Did he tell you who it was or did he drop any hints?" Paul asked her.

"No, he didn't," Dawn said while sighing. She didn't like the fact her love was being threatened by someone they didn't know about.

"I suggest we just wait and see," Paul said. "We don't know anything and I wouldn't want to risk a false alarm. Maybe we should keep an eye out for Conway though," he said.

May and Dawn nodded, knowing this was the best solution for the time being.

Then Gary knocked on the door and told them dinner was ready. May immediately went to the dining room and Paul quickly kissed Dawn on the lips. She smiled at him and took his hand while walking to the dining room. Paul asked Cilan if he had some pure alcohol; he wanted to disinfect the scratches on Dawn's cheek. It stung a bit but she smiled at him and when he looked into her eyes his hart skipped a beat.

This didn't go unnoticed but Paul wanted to tell everybody the other important news first. He looked at Dawn and she nodded. They wanted everyone at the table to be on the same page. Paul and Dawn told everybody the whole story while eating dinner. About Dawn being blackmailed by Conway, about their relationship and about what happened that afternoon with Conway at the library.

Leaf and Misty looked amazed, because they had known Paul and Dawn had some problems but they didn't know why. Gary, Ash and Drew looked angry with Conway. How dare he blackmail Dawn and threaten Paul? Cilan and Iris looked shocked. They hadn't known any of this. Only that Dawn didn't want to be alone outdoors because a guy was stalking her.

They all agreed to keep an eye out for Conway and his little tricks.

"So are you guys together now?" Gary asked them bluntly. Leaf kicked his leg under the table and he grumpily told her that everyone was curious about it but no one had the guts to ask.

Paul smiled and looked at Dawn again. There was a sparkle in her eye that made him sure of the answer he was going to give the group.

"Yes we are together now," he said.

Dawn smiled and May gave her a hug.

"I am so happy for you guys," Misty told Paul and Dawn. "You really deserve some happiness after all the drama," she said.

"Thanks, that means a lot," Dawn told her best friend.

They finished the lovely dinner Cilan had made and they all went to the living room except for Dawn, who was going to take a shower and put her pyjamas on.

Drew dropped himself on the couch and sighed contently. "That was delicious Cilan," he said.

They watched TV the rest of the evening and went to bed early.


	15. For bad or for worse?

**Chapter 15**

Paul woke up as a totally different person. He was happy with Dawn and his life. The only thing that kept nagging him was the fact that Conway had found a way to get Dawn alone yesterday. Dawn and Paul couldn't afford to be alone the next couple of weeks. Just until they knew Conway wouldn't do anything to harm them.

Paul got out of bed and walked towards his closet. He pulled out black pants and a purple t-shirt.

He knocked on Dawn's door, but he didn't hear any sound. Paul opened the door slightly and saw her still sleeping. She looked so beautiful with her long blue hair spread all over the pillow. She sighed slightly and started calling his name. He walked towards her bed and sat down next to her. He shook her lightly to wake her up. She woke up and looked startled when she saw him sitting on her bed. "What are you doing here," she shrieked. "Trying to wake you up sleepyhead," he answered a bit surprised she yelled at him. She vaguely looked at him and then the memory of yesterday hit again. "Oops, I forgot we're dating now," she apologetically smiled. "How could you forget you have a boyfriend," he asked with a grin on his face.

"I'm sorry, this is still new to me. I've never had a boyfriend. You are my first love," she answered a little grumpily.

Paul looked surprised to hear that, "am I really your first love?" he asked. "Yes," she answered.

"Well I am honoured," he replied, "lets get some breakfast."

Dawn pushed him out of her room so she could dress without him there. She knew they would eventually get a lot more physical, but today was not that day. She pulled one of her favourite dresses out of the closet. It was a beautiful dark blue colour and had little sparkly gems on it to make it look like stars. She curled her hair and decided to make an effort today and put it in a beautiful braided up do. She ensured it with little pins she got from her mother. A little bit of make-up would have to do the trick for today; she didn't feel like putting a lot on.

Paul was already sitting at the dining table eating his breakfast. He wasn't the only one already eating. Ash and May were also sitting at the table munching on seconds. Dawn smiled and went to the kitchen to get a plate of food. Cilan laughed when Dawn asked if there was any food left.

"Yes there is enough food left," he replied while smiling.

Dawn shot Cilan a grateful glance; he was always making them food and with May and Ash around, he had to make a lot.

Dawn sat next to Paul and smiled at him. He winked at her and asked Ash and May what they would do today.

May looked at Dawn and told them she wanted to go shopping for some new clothes today. Drew didn't want to come and Leaf and Gary would be having their fourth date. Dawn told May she would be happy to accompany her but that Paul would have to come as well. Paul did not want to go shopping, but he didn't want to leave the girls alone. He asked if Ash could come as well because it wouldn't be as bad with another guy present. Ash told Paul he had to talk to Misty about it.

When everyone was awake it was decided Ash would go with Paul, Dawn and May. Misty wasn't fond of shopping and she had other stuff to do.

May and Dawn were very excited to buy some new clothes. Paul and Ash were talking about Pokémon strategies and the girls were talking about clothes, boys and movie stars.

They spent almost all day in the shopping mall, looking for clothes, jewellery and other accessories. De boys were very bored at the end of the afternoon and were happy when the girls decided it was enough for that day. May was very hungry and so was Ash, but he couldn't get something to eat with them because he had promised Misty to go out with her.

May, Paul and Dawn decided to go to a little diner without Ash. After they were done eating it was already dark outside. When they exited the entrance he noticed a group of large men standing nearby. He kept both May and Dawn close and tried to keep them chatting to each other. He quickened his pace because he didn't trust it. The guys were following them and he knew they were outnumbered badly.

"Girls," Paul started to whisper, "When I tell you to run, run to the apartment and call the police," he exclaimed.

May looked scared but Dawn looked determined to hit anybody who wanted to hurt her.

The men who were following them also quickened their pace and Paul yelled, "RUN!"

The girls started to run and Paul ran with them. Unfortunately they caught the petite brunette first and she tried to fight her attacker but she was no match. Dawn ran as fast as she could but she tripped over her own feet. A man grabbed her from the ground and had a steel grip on her. She struggled a lot and she got free but was caught again after only a few seconds.

Dawn screamed.

"Let me go, let me go, LET ME GO," she yelled at the man holding her. He cringed at her high-pitched scream and put his hand across her mouth. She bit him and tried to get free again but failed miserably.

"Stop fighting," a low voiced man ordered her. They showed her the lifeless body of Paul; he had a cut in his forehead. Dawn got tears in her eyes when she looked at Paul's body and tried to calm herself.

"He is not dead," the low voiced man told her, "but if you keep struggling we will kill him."

Dawn saw she had no other choice than to obey the low voiced man.

May was already bound and gagged and placed into a van. Paul was also bound and gagged in case he came to. The kidnappers dropped all their personal belongings on the ground so they wouldn't be able to track Dawn, May and Paul.

"Ty her up tightly," the low voiced man ordered, "she is feisty and could escape."

"Yes boss," the man who held her told him.

When they had bound and gagged her they threw her in the van.

They couldn't talk because they were gagged but May and Dawn thought the exact same thing. Were they going to make it out alive?

Dawn was worried about Paul. Was he going to be okay?

* * *

**Dear readers,**

**I'm really sorry you had to go without any update in this story for 2/3 weeks. **

**Luckily I was absent because I got married on the 4th of July and went on my honeymoon immediately after it. I still have a lot of chapters I want to share with you, so don't worry about that. **

**Hopefully you like this chapter!**

**Suzanna**


	16. Help wanted

When Dawn woke up all sorts of flashbacks went through her head. Had she dreamed it or was it real? She looked up to see May and Paul chained to a wall. She herself was chained even more as if they thought she would break out of them.

May looked scared at Dawn and Paul was still unconscious.

"May are you okay?" Dawn asked her friend.

May nodded and seemed close to tears now.

"Don't cry sweetie, it's going to be all right," Dawn tried to calm May down. The truth was, she didn't know if everything was going to be okay.

"How is Paul?" she asked May who was closer to Paul then she was.

"I don't know," May replied.

Luckily they heard a groaning noise coming from Paul. He looked a little dazed but asked them where they were.

"We don't know," Dawn answered while relieved to hear Paul was okay.

"Are you both okay?" Paul asked May and Dawn.

"We are okay, but are you okay?" May replied.

"Fine, just a little headache," Paul grumbled.

Dawn looked around and saw they were in some sort of dungeon. It was damp and mouldy. She could move her wrists and her legs but she couldn't go far because of the shackles. Dawn felt her hair and luckily the pins were still in it. She grabbed one tightly and pulled it out. She threw it at Paul and he caught it.

"When it's safe, please try to escape," she told them.

"What are you going to do?" Paul asked her.

"I don't know yet, but I'm going to try something," she replied.

Dawn took a deep breath and screamed HELP out loud. It worked and someone came down to the dungeon. It was dark in the dungeon; she couldn't see what the person looked like.

"Shut up," a rough voice told Dawn.

"I want to know why you kidnapped us," Dawn asked him.

"I'm not going to tell you," he answered her.

"Why wouldn't you, it's not like we can get away and ruin your plans," Paul replied to the man.

"You shut up, or I will come in there and beat you," he told Paul in a very rough tone.

"You will not hurt him," Dawn told him.

"How do you know I won't," he asked her with a smile.

"Because you kidnapped us for a reason, so I don't think you would hurt him," she replied.

The man's smirk faded and he started to look dangerously at her.

"You watch out smart mouth, we can't murder you, but that doesn't exclude torture," he answered.

Another man appeared and asked him how things were going.

"The little girl and the guy are fairly quiet, but the blue haired girl won't shut up," he replied.

"Maybe we need to beat the confidence out of her," the other man suggested.

They both smirked and received a message from their boss to bring the blue haired girl to him.

They opened the cage and removed the chains from her hands and feet.

"Where are you bringing me," she asked warily.

"We are going to bring you to the boss princess," while he pushed her hard-handily towards the exit of the dungeon.

Dawn arrived at a big room. There was a big man with the same hair colour and eyes as Dawn in it. They bound Dawn tightly to a chair and left the room again.

"Who are you," she asked him rudely.

"Didn't your mother teach you manners," he replied.

"She did, but I don't have to use them when I'm kidnapped," she told him.

He smirked devilish and walked towards Dawn. She was scared but decided not to let it show, she was an easy target if he knew she was scared.

"Tell me who you are," he demanded.

"You are the one who kidnapped me, you should know who I am," she replied.

At first he thought it was funny how she reacted, but now it was started to annoy him.

"Apparently we need to motivate you to talk," he said harshly. He whistled and someone entered the room. Dawn looked shocked when she saw who it was.

"Conway, what are you doing here," she asked him.

"I work here," he replied while looking very creepy.

Dawn shivered, she never knew someone who could be as creepy as Conway was. She was scared of him and his capabilities.

"You need to punish her, maybe then she'll talk," he told Conway and left the room.

Dawn looked at Conway and hoped he wasn't really going to hurt her. He looked at her with a sadistic smile and she knew all hope was lost.

He walked towards her and stood still in front of the chair she was tied to.

"What are you going to do," she asked him while shivers ran through her.

"Play with you," he replied. He started to touch her everywhere on her body to humiliate her, and when that didn't seem to work he started hitting her.

She started screaming but his hands quickly covered her mouth. When he was finished with her he called the boss back in. Dawn had bruises across her entire body and she felt terrible. She refused to cry but still couldn't help her eyes filling with tears.

The blue haired man entered the room again and looked at her.

"Are you ready to talk now?" he asked her.

Dawn kept silent and stared at the ground; they couldn't blackmail her via physical harassment.

"Still nothing eh," he told her while smirking. "Apparently I have to torture you mentally as well don't I?" he told her.

"I know your name is Dawn and your mother is called Johanna," he said.

She looked the man directly in his eyes. "If you already know, why bother asking me," she replied.

"I wasn't sure if you knew who I was," he replied and he could see she didn't know him.

"I'm your father," he told her.

"No, no you are not my father, you will never be my father," she screamed at him while tears started to slide down her cheek.

"I actually am, but I left your mother when I found out she was cheating on me with your stepfather," he told Dawn.

"She probably cheated on you because you are such a horrible person," she told him in an angry tone.


	17. Released

Meanwhile it was getting late at the apartment and May, Paul and Dawn still weren't home. Drew was getting a bit anxious because of the whole Conway business. When Misty and Ash returned home he wanted to tell them about his fears but Ash was a little quicker.

"Aren't they home yet?" Ash asked a little concerned.

"No they aren't," Drew replied.

"We have to go look for them," Leaf answered.

"Where do we start," Gary asked.

"At the diner, it is where they wanted to eat dinner," Ash replied.

Misty, Leaf, Gary, Ash, Drew, Iris and Cilan all ran to the elevator. Drew was getting grumpy because the elevator was not going fast enough.

When they were outside he wanted to make a run for it, but his cast prevented him for running as fast as he wanted to.

When they finally arrived at the diner, they saw nothing suspicious. They started to look around but none of them found anything until Leaf screamed.

Drew walked as quickly as he could towards her and asked what was wrong. She showed him their cell phones and wallets, even their recent purchases were found.

They decided to call the police, because it looked like they where kidnapped.

When the police arrived they questioned everybody and especially Ash since he was de last person to see them alive. They all felt extremely powerless and they didn't know what to do anymore. The only thing they could do was telling the police about Conway. How he blackmailed Dawn and threatened Paul. The police promised to question Conway and to let them know if Conway told them something important. The gang went back to the apartment, knowing they couldn't do anything to help their friends.

Leaf had to call her parents to tell them May had been kidnapped. Misty would call Dawn's mom and Ash would call Reggie to tell him about this news. When they all delivered the bad news to the parents and Paul's brother they sat together in de living room. May's parents, Dawn's mom and Reggie had promised to come as quickly as possible. Drew was mad at himself for not telling May he loved her. He didn't know if she was safe and if he would see her again.

"I hope she is okay," Leaf told the gang with tears in her eyes.

Everybody nodded in agreement.

"We have to believe she is okay," Drew told her.

"Why aren't we doing more than this," Leaf asked impatiently.

"The police told us to wait for more information," he replied.

"Since when do you sit back and wait for something to happen," she told him angrily.

"Since we don't have any clues about her whereabouts," he said grumpily.

"Then you don't care as much about her as I thought you did," she retorted sadly.

"DON'T you ever tell me I don't care about her," he yelled at Leaf while standing up.

Leaf looked shocked at this outburst and started crying. Drew looked a bit uncomfortable about Leaf crying but walked towards her and put his arm around her shoulder.

"I love her as much as you do, but we can't do anything at the moment," he tried to calm her.

"Y-you love her," she asked him.

"I do, but I never told her and I blame myself for not being there with her. If only my leg wasn't broken I could've gone with them," he told her.

"You mustn't blame yourself. It's not your fault," Leaf tried to reassure him.

He gave her a watery smile and tried to swallow back some tears but he couldn't. Leaf gave him a tissue and a hug.

They were happy when Caroline and Norman, May's parents arrived in the morning. It wasn't long after that when Reggie and Johanna arrived with a surprise guest. When they first saw the surprise guest they thought it was Paul, but after a closer look they knew it wasn't him. The surprise guest introduced himself as Keith, Paul's dad. It was decided they all would sleep in the apartment in case they would hear something from the police.

They didn't hear anything from the police but they did receive a note from the kidnappers. The kidnappers would release May if her parents paid ransom money. They showed the note to the police and were advised to pay the money. Maybe May knew more about the hiding place. Norman and Caroline went to the bank to get the money, they were supposed to leave it at the diner and May would turn up. Norman and Caroline left the money and went back to the apartment. They were very worried about their daughter and hoped she would be released after paying the ransom money.

When they arrived at the apartment they saw a bound and gagged May in front of the door. Caroline shrieked loudly and almost everybody in the apartment came running to the front door to see what was going on. They quickly loosened the ropes around her wrists and legs and pulled off the tape that was around her mouth. May looked exhausted, pale and ready to cry if anyone was mean to her. Norman, Caroline and Leaf hugged her very tightly and were very happy that she'd returned home safely.

Drew wanted to hug her, to tell her she was going to be okay. He wanted her to know she was safe and he would do anything to keep her safe. But most of all, he wanted her to know he loved her and he felt helpless because he couldn't do anything to help her. However, he knew this wasn't the moment to tell her all those things. She needed to be with her family and needed to be taken care off, physically and mentally. Norman carried May inside the apartment and put her on the couch. Caroline and Leaf kept holding each other's hands. They were happy she had returned safe and sound.

Norman called the police to let them know the kidnappers had released May and she was in the apartment. The police wanted to talk to May immediately, but her parents insisted that she had been through enough for that night. She needed a warm shower, food and a good nights sleep. The head of police would come around the next day to talk to May about the kidnappers.

Caroline and Leaf helped May out of her dirty clothes and put her in the shower. Cilan had prepared a lovely and warm meal for May. But they knew she was too exhausted when she fell asleep above her plate. Norman carried her to her bed. The rest of the gang sat in the living room, speculating about what happened to May. They would find out the next day what happened to Dawn, Paul and May.


End file.
